Putting Client Interests Ahead of the Firm's

Orcam Financial Group is a financial services firm offeringasset management and consulting services at a low fee. We believe that Wall Street’s typical services are substantially overpriced and misaligned with the interests of clients.

At Orcam we focus on ensuring that the client not only pays a reasonable fee for high quality services, but is involved in a relationship in which the asset manager’s interests are aligned with those of the client.

Low Fee - Macro - Index Based - Sophisticated

Our approach to asset management is different from the typical Wall Street firm. We offer a sophisticated global macro approach that focuses on reducing fees, maximizing tax efficiencies, and reducing portfolio frictions while aligning the financial goals of our clients with the proper levels of risk. At Orcam we believe a sophisticated portfolio management approach should be accessible to investors without the high costs.

The 30,000 Foot View

“The big picture matters like never before.”

If the last five years have taught us anything, it’s that understanding the monetary system matters. Investors and asset managers who didn’t understand the operational realities of the monetary system made devastatingly erroneous predictions about the direction of interest rates, inflation, stocks, commodities and the economy in general. At Orcam we believe asset managers should understand the macro monetary and financial system in order to reduce the risk of making portfolio management errors. This requires a sophisticated understanding of the institutional design of the monetary system, the banking system, the global payments system and the macroeconomy.

Understanding the “Total Portfolio”

When one understands the monetary system at the 30,000 foot level it becomes clear that our “investment portfolios” aren’t really “investments” at all. Instead, our portfolios are repositories for savings that have been accumulated. For most of us, our real “investments” are made in maximizing our primary source of income and maximizing our value to others within the economy. What is widely perceived as our “investment portfolio” is actually a savings portfolio that has been allocated to various outstanding assets. This repository of savings isn’t gambling money that should be thrown around at the mercy of the stock market rollercoaster. It is our hard earned savings and should be protected from potential risks in a prudent and balanced manner.

“The financial markets aren’t where you get rich. The financial markets are where you allocate a portion of your savings to protect against purchasing power loss and the risk of permanent loss.”

Orcam’s Total Portfolio approach helps us properly align the way our clients perceive risk with an asset allocation and portfolio that is appropriate for them.

Understanding Risk

Risk is one of the most misunderstood concepts on Wall Street. Most academics and market practitioners perceive risk as “volatility” or standard deviation. But this perspective is not aligned with the way most investors actually perceive portfolio risk.

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

For most of us, risk is simply the potential that we will not meet our financial goals. The biggest risks in our savings portfolios are the loss of purchasing power due to inflation and the risk of permanent loss due to price declines. If one can outperform inflation, reduce the risk of permanent loss and do so with moderate risk adjusted returns then they will have a high probability of achieving their financial goals. Unlike most asset managers who charge high fees selling the idea of “beating the market”, we focus on generating positive risk adjusted returns to ensure that your portfolio is helping you to achieve your financial goals.

Risk Profile Parity

The biggest problem in portfolio management is managing the dynamism of the asset markets with your risk profile. While our risk profiles tend to be static our exposure to different asset class risks is constantly changing. This means that our risk profiles tend to become misaligned as the business cycle unfolds and the financial markets change.

We know that assets tend to become more risky as they increase in price and less risky after price declines, yet the majority of investors react to asset price changes without understanding that chasing performance often means chasing higher risk. Our research shows that many asset classes become more/less risky as the business cycle unfolds, but a static asset allocation approach leaves investors overweight high risk assets at the riskiest point in the cycle. In other words, your risk profile remains the same, but the actual risk of the asset classes has shifted. For instance, a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio is riskier in the latter stages of the business cycle than it is early in the business cycle primarily because stocks become riskier relative to bonds as the cycle plays out.

To adjust for this we construct a macro view of the world using a broad perspective and apply a cyclically adaptive model to client portfolios that account for the changing relative risks of asset classes as the business cycle and markets change with time. This allows us to increase the odds that our clients will achieve their financial goals by aligning their risk tolerance with the relative risks of certain asset classes during the fluctuations in the business cycle.

“We don’t deal in certainties, we deal in probabilities. “

Nothing is certain given the dynamism of the financial markets, but through a superior understanding of the monetary system and the capital structure we are able to construct a model for portfolio management that generates a high probability of helping beat inflation without exposure to excessive permanent loss risk while achieving high risk adjusted returns.

Our low fee risk focused approach helps us construct a management style that accounts for a dynamic and evolving business cycle without being excessively active in our portfolios. This adaptive approach helps us align the goals of our clients with the changes in the business cycle and the alterations in the risk landscape. All while maintaining a low fee structure and aligning the interests of our clients with our management style.

Getting Started is Easy

Opening an account with Orcam is not only safe and secure, but easy. We believe in 100% transparency and third party custody to reduce the potential for any conflict of interest and maintain account ownership and control in the hands of the client. We use only the highest quality custodians and brokers to ensure the safety and soundness of our clients’ assets.

The process begins with a brief phone introduction to make sure you’re a good fit for Orcam and also to ensure that Orcam is a good fit for you. We then run an in-depth risk and account profile so we can ensure that we put ourselves in your shoes when we apply the proper portfolio construction process. In the future, you can can rely on us to monitor and manage the account and you can focus your attention on what is most important to you.

If you want to optimize your portfolio, reduce fees, invest efficiently, diversify and reduce the burden of managing your assets then contact us today.